Originally written by Anna Jordan on Small Business
A new report is asking the Scottish Government to take stakes in struggling firms, including SMEs.
The document, created by the Advisory Group on Economic Recovery, makes 25 recommendations based on the thoughts and opinions of hundreds of businesses.
One of the most significant is that the government must support guaranteed employment for young people, securing two years of work at the real living wage.
Other suggestions include a ‘significant increase’ in infrastructure investment, especially in digital technologies, along with targeted measures to help the tourism and hospitality industries.
SME focused recommendations highlight sector-specific banking products for small businesses and ‘differentiated solutions’ such as re-start loans, repayment plans and new deals.
The enquiry was run by Benny Higgins, the former chief executive of Tesco. Higgins suggests that Scotland will need £6bn to revive the economy – the current limit going through the fiscal framework is £450m. Investment will need to be at least 4 per cent of financial output to be effective.
Figures show that Scotland’s GDP is down 2.5 per cent in first three months of 2020 and fell by 18.9 per cent in April.
Benny Higgins said:
“Scotland faces an economic challenge of monumental scale. If we do not